


Choco Choco Baby

by ayeayecaptain



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Cute, Dorks, Fluff, M/M, More Characters mentioned, Romance, Stalker Girls are here, We have LOTS of stalking here so, fluff?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayeayecaptain/pseuds/ayeayecaptain
Summary: In which everyone ships these two but Jihoon insists it's all heterosexual shit.





	Choco Choco Baby

**Author's Note:**

> I went day-drinking yesterday and my crazy ass self decided to write this while I wasn't sober so... just warning you guys. Also the title is that because I suck at titles more than I suck at summaries. I'm also that asshole who writes notes that are longer than the summary and likes to talk a lot. And Jonghyun T-T. I was literally lying on my bed for days because I couldn't get over the fact that he hurt so much before he died. I'm all fine now tho still a little heartbroken. I'll get over it. I also don't know how to use tags have mercy on me.

_Oh god, fuck off_. That’s what he wants to say to this girl. Jihoon knows it’s mean to do that but honestly, these girls have to stop treating him like a god or something. First of all, he’s sick of it. Second, these girls need a life. Seriously.

Admittedly, he was flattered _at first_ when girls at his school started blushing when he’s around or squealed when he as much looked in their general direction. He was even a little bit okay with the pictures of him they took of him. But that was like when he was in his first year of middle school. He’s a senior in high school now.

Jihoon bets she’s going to ask him out next.

“Please go out with me!” Bingo.

Is Jihoon a sociopath? Probably. Is he going to relish it (just a little) if this girl cries? Of course. Is he going to tarnish his image by doing it harshly? Nope. Is he going to risk getting attacked by crazy girls who most probably will get angry at him if he rejects them like a douche? Not in a million years. He values his own safety, thank you very much.

“I’m sorry but… I’m trying to focus on my studies. I’m not yet ready for a relationship, I’m really sorry.” Classic academics excuse. Jihoon doesn’t have the imagination of an author, this will be enough for the girl. If she’s not the rabid type.

“Okay. I’ll just be here if you need someone.” _Oh believe me, I DON’T need anyone. At all._ And why is she being all chummy with him all of a sudden? It’s not like they even ever talked before this lab activity.

“Uh. Okay. Let’s please just focus on titrating this,” he continues to strengthen his “academic reasons”.  He’s told about one-fourth of the entire female population of the school about his focus on “academics”, he can’t get guilty now.

“Hey Barbie over there!” Kahi, their chemistry teacher, shouts as she frowns at one of the girls at the back. “Listen to what I’m saying here up front instead of taking pictures of Jihoon. And didn’t I say to _not_ wear any make-up inside the lab? Take it off.”

Every single teacher in their school knows exactly what would go down in _every_ single class Jihoon is in. A girl talks to him, some others take pictures of him, most girls come with faces caked with make-up, and let’s just say that there would be selling. From what Woojin told him, Jihoon has a cult and they sell pictures and posters and basically anything that has his face on it to anyone who has the money. They’re all overpriced but people actually buy them. Hell, the business is even busier than the weed sales held in the school’s restrooms.

And that’s not Jihoon bragging, that’s the truth speaking.

And supposedly, Kahi’s done by now with these girls and she’s giving no fucks but apparently, that’s not the case. Jihoon can’t help but feel a little thankful she’s one of his teachers.

Kahi groans. “How many times do I have to tell you girls? NO TRANSACTIONS IN MY CLASS.”

 

Yep, the girls are everywhere. He got out early (4:06 to be exact) and his stalkers are somehow, someway already around. He’d almost be fascinated about these crazy girls’ scary stalking (even going as far to _his_ part-time job) if not for the fact that it is scary. Well, he can thank the heavens for Jinyoung.

His friends are mostly crap, but one day, the heavens deemed him good enough and gave him Jinyoung as a friend. The end.

Just kidding. Jinyoung’s also a little bit of an asshole sometimes but hey, Jihoon’s other friends are demons and if you compare Jinyoung to them, you can almost see a halo floating over the guy’s head. Anyway. Jinyoung just so happens to be the friend who works with him in the café a few blocks from school. He applied when Jihoon begged him to and went to work with him and walked home with him and did all the good things friends are supposed to do (if you’re wondering how Jihoon got his job when he’s underage, then a ton of lying can explain everything; thank God his bosses didn’t even bother to look at his age or even know where his uniform came from).

Maybe Jinyoung’s like God’s blessing to him or something. Like Jinyoung’s what God sent to ward off whatever evil the stalkers might do to him. Which actually works, they’re all behind bushes and poles and on the ground and wherever anyone can actually hide. It makes him uncomfortable, sure, but at least they’re not touching him.

“Should I just get rid of my bangs or…?”

Jihoon reaches up to comb back Jinyoung’s bangs and expose his forehead, then lets them flop back down. “It might work. Hm. It wasn’t all that bad, I guess.”

Jinyoung shrugs as he opens his backpack. Out comes a bag of chips. “You want some?”

He takes a handful. It’s good, just like all the other snacks Jinyoung has ever shared with him. Jihoon’s kind of attached to these snacks now.

“I know I’ve been asking you this every day since we became friends but do these stalkers have a life or do they just, you know, spend the rest of their days stalking you?”

They’ll probably grow out of it. Most probably in college, where they’ll find another guy to obsess over. Poor guy.

But right now, it does look like they’ll spend the rest of their lives stalking him.

“Nah. I hope they don’t. They’ll eventually snap out of it, give them some time.”

Jihoon’s pretty sure he’s walking slower than normal. But then, the air is nice. There are cotton candy pink clouds floating in the sky. And Jinyoung is being his usual cute self. Of course, in the heterosexual way. Jihoon lives by the statement: “No homo.”

“Is there something on my face?”

Well, this is awkward. He was staring at Jinyoung, probably in the same creepy way his stalkers do to him. Which doesn’t make this kind of situation any better, really.

“No. I was just thinking about stuff. You know how you just end up unintentionally staring at someone – “

“You’re explaining it too much, _hyung_. Cute.”

Jihoon blinks at Jinyoung. “You do realize you said that, right?”

“I do.”

Their conversation ends abruptly when Jinyoung opens the café’s door and they both enter. It’s mostly empty, except for Daniel and Seongwoo (They’re the college students who work the shift before theirs. They also went to Jihoon’s high school last year before graduating. In fact, they were part of the dance club.) at the counter and a kid on one of the tables.

“You guys are here early,” Daniel comments as Jihoon and Jinyoung walk towards the counter.

“Last period teacher’s out for the next two weeks. She’s pregnant,” Jinyoung explains, going behind the counter and dropping his back on one of the stools near Daniel.

“Doesn’t the school only allow students to get out by four?” Seongwoo asks, then goes back to counting the money in the cash register.

“They do. But we were already by the gate when the bell rang, so we got out earlier than usual.”

“Well, let’s get out of here now, the _losers_ are here. We totally should ditch them.” Seongwoo laughs at his own statement.

Jihoon blinks at the college student. “Um. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t think that was a joke,” Jinyoung deadpans.

“Okay.” Jihoon turns to his seniors. “Anyway, if you guys are gonna be useless now, go do your college shit. We’ll take it from here, _Hong_ - _ssi_.”

Seongwoo crinkles his nose like Jihoon just smells like crap (which he doesn’t). Maybe it’s more like Jihoon is made up of crap. Not smelly but still nasty. “It’s Ong, not Hong. Harsh doesn’t suit you, Jihoon-ah. You just sound like you’re trying too hard.”

“What can I say? I learned from you.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes at the two. “Seongwoo _hyung_ , I think he’s getting better at it. But whatever guys, at least let me take this if you’re not going to.” He takes the customer’s order, then turns to the coffee maker. Soon enough, the order’s ready.

He recites the payment declaration speech (at least that’s what he calls it) to the customer before turning back to Jihoon and Seongwoo. “I think it’s our shift now.”

“Okay, well, bye. We’ve got exams tomorrow. Got to study.”

Seongwoo flashes them one of those weird-ass grins again, the type that makes Jihoon’s hair raise. The grin that Seongwoo has been giving a lot to him and Jinyoung these days. Jihoon really doesn’t want to know what the hell that grin means. “Don’t go make out in front of the customers~”

Well, there goes the spoiler. Why in the world would Jihoon and Jinyoung even as much peck each other’s lips? Ridiculous.

“ _Hyung_ ’s probably high on coffee again, I guess.” Gah. It’s so easy for Jinyoung to just shrug his shoulders at _that_. But then, nothing _ever_ fazes Jinyoung. And even if something does, Jihoon would never know because Jinyoung’s good at hiding stuff like that. But whatever, he should at least be a little weirded out by that, right? Seongwoo doesn’t normally let out words like those out of his mouth.

“Eh. So that’s why his under eyes look so dark. How does he keep fans like that?”

Jinyoung laughs as he drums against the wooden counter, watching as Jihoon goes around trying to find any tables to clean. “He still looks attractive even with dark under eyes, _hyung_.”

He finally gives up on his quest (to find something useful to do) and goes back behind the counter. “Well, he’s not as handsome as you with that look.”

Jinyoung frowns a little before bringing his hand up to Jihoon’s forehead. “No fever. Did you eat anything weird today?”

“Uh,” he starts, taking Jinyoung’s hand off his forehead, “I’m fine. You just don’t know how to take a compliment.”

“No, it’s because you don’t give compliments that often. You know, you being the Great Lord of Attracting Fangirls. Fangirls lining up to die by your voice.”

“You overrate me, Jinyoung-ah.”

Jinyoung starts playing with the tips of Jihoon’s hair. It feels sooo nice. “No, that’s the truth.”

“So you think I am attractive?” Jihoon teases, nudging at Jinyoung’s ribs a little. The younger smiles.

“Well, what if I do?”

That catches Jihoon off-guard. He half-expected Jinyoung to say “sure” followed by one of those cute eyerolls of his. He also half-expected Jinyoung to not reply and laugh along with him. But instead, he replies to his question with another question.

Jihoon chuckles (it’s fake and they both know it). “You don’t.”

The younger shrugs. “Whatever you say.”

“Hi! May I take your order?”

 

“Would you stop drafting rants in _my_ Twitter account? What if you accidentally send that? Unlike you, I don’t have much of rabid fangirls that will protect me to death,” Samuel complains (yet he doesn’t even make an effort to get his own phone from Jihoon’s hands), “I’ve got a reputation to keep, you know?”

Jihoon continues typing. “Oh please, you don’t even have a reputation. Your reputation is like, what – normal kid?”

“Eh, that didn’t even hurt or anything, Jihoon.”

He waves his free hand at Samuel, motioning for him to go away.

FUCK GUYS LEAVE ME ALONE. Okay, maybe too harsh. He erases his statement. YO GET A LIFE. Too short.

“Hey anyway, why are you at _my_ side of the table? Aren’t you supposed to be beside Jinyoung right now? Right this very second? You know, smooching?”

Ah. Samuel and his unnecessary obnoxious need to stick his head into Jihoon’s life. He clicks his tongue. “First off, _this_ bench does not have _your_ name written on it, and so is the case for this side of the table. So I can sit here. Second, I’m not always with Jinyoung, Samuel. I have a life, too. And finally, who the hell even says the word ‘smooching’ these days? And why does everyone think me and Jinyoung are going to do that? Guys?”

Daehwi looks up from his phone. “No offense but we _feel_ the sexual tension between you guys.”

“But there’s no sexual tension!”

“Right. And the Earth is flat,” Daehwi deadpans. Since when did Daehwi become this sarcastic? Jihoon looks up from Samuel’s phone. “You remind me so much of– “

“Minki _hyung_? Yeah, he’s cool.”

“I was about to say Seongwoo but okay.”

“Um guys, I’m also here,” Jinyoung tells them from his position, squeezed between Guanlin and Daehwi.

Samuel sighs. “We know, we know. Exactly why we’re saying all these. You know, you guys probably don’t know this, but you and Jihoon here– “

“You know, I’m older than you, Samuel– “ Jihoon interrupts, getting back to his lunch. Samuel waves his hands at him.

“Whatever – the point is, you,” Samuel continues, pointing at Jinyoung with his right hand and at Jihoon with the other, “and you look so much like a couple when you’re together. Most people think so, guys.”

Woojin arrives from the lunch line and seats himself beside Jihoon. “What are you talking about now?”

Jihoon speaks first before Samuel can. “Apparently, Samuel had enough time to conduct a survey and asked everyone what they think about when they see me and Jinyoung. And apparently, most people think we look like a couple. He probably interviewed blind people. Or I don’t know, hypnotized them or something.”

“Okay. But you guys really look like a couple.”

Jihoon turns to Jinyoung, his eyes flashing _all_ sorts of warning signs. Jinyoung just shrugs at him. Of course, he does.

“You guys are going insane. I’m straight. Jinyoung’s straight. It’s _not_ happening.”

Seonho squeals as he also arrives, seating himself right next to the other edge of “Samuel’s side”, right in front of Guanlin. “Look at him, all angry. Super cute, _hyung_.”

“Also, how do you know Jinyoung’s not gay?” Guanlin points out. Seonho mutters something under his breath (“You spoke! So proud of you, Guanlin.”) and reaches over the table to pat Guanlin’s hair. The older doesn’t look impressed.

Jihoon considers it for a moment (now that he thinks about it, he’s never actually seen or heard anything from Jinyoung that says anything about his sexuality), then looks at Jinyoung directly in the eye. “Well, do you like girls or guys?”

The younger’s eyes flit around the table for a second before he answers, “Both.”

“Oooohhh...”

Jinyoung looks around the table again. “You know you could have asked Daehwi about this, right?”

Everyone quickly snaps their head (and proceeds to break their neck) to glare at Daehwi. He drops his sandwich. “What? Confrontations are _great_. You get to learn new things, give me all the dra– “

Everyone keeps glaring.

“All right, I’ll stop, I’ll stop.”

 

Now that the truth has come to the light (or whatever saying they say), Jihoon can see why his friends think him and Jinyoung are some... _couple_. Jihoon is... clingy (and so is Jinyoung). Not clingy in the way Daehwi is, but still clingy. And most of the time, he’s with Jinyoung. Like, probably, on all the breaks, it’s either him in Jinyoung’s classroom or the younger in his. And he somehow, someway ends up mentioning Jinyoung in most of his conversations.

Not to mention the fact that Jinyoung usually accompanies Jihoon to his door after their shifts. Like a boyfriend. And right now, Jihoon’s low-key freaking out. Because now, everything he’s ever done with Jinyoung just looks like some sort of couple-y thing couples do. And Jihoon doesn’t even _mind_ it.

He isn’t feeling weirded out or _disturbed_ or _disgusted_ or _anything_. Jihoon knows he’s not homophobic, so disgusted is out of the list but still. He should at least feel something close to discomfort. But no. Jihoon is actually perfectly fine with it. Which is just – gah. He’s straight, perfectly straight.

“Jihoon, I’m waiting.” Boa’s voice snaps Jihoon out of whatever deep part of his brain he was temporarily immersed in. Right. English period.

“ _Rain is coming when you see a dark sky_.” Jihoon can see it clearly in Boa’s face that he just made more than just a couple of pronounciation errors. English was never his best subject anyway. He’s barely passing.

“Okay. Lee Hyejin, read the next line.”

Jihoon immediately drifts back to the ocean that is his mind. Or is it a galaxy? The universe? Whatever. He was never one for these types of adjectives anyway. One of the many reasons he’ll never be a writer.

Okay, but yeah, Jinyoung’s probably not into him. He says stuff like ‘cute’ to Jihoon, sure, but he says them in a way that’s so heterosexual (right, Jinyoung’s bi) and platonic and, well, unromantic (is unromantic a word or...?). So if Jihoon’s (insane) friends are having fantasies of him and Jinyoung hooking up, then they’ll be left hanging in the air. And if it’s _that_ kind of fantasy, then they’ll be left with blue balls.

Honestly, he needs better friends. Or maybe he just needs a psychiatrist to refer them to. Sounds like a good idea, if anyone asks Jihoon. Maybe then they’d stop meddling with his life so much. His love life, in particular.

It’s not like it’s not nice. His friends care for him, that’s sweet of them, blah blah blah. But sometimes (most of the time), they just go from caring, mildly obtrusive friends to being his second parents (or are those his teachers) who, by the way, meddle more than his actual parents.

Jihoon looks down at his (mostly empty) notebook. He kind of wishes his high school is out of a movie. The protagonist has minor ass problems and somehow, someway, things turn out great in the end. Maybe classes will even be interesting.

His English classes will have literature that relates to whatever predicament he’s found himself in, lunch might involve more dancing and singing and people playing on their table than actual eating, Jihoon would get all the solution to his problems, his parents don’t actually know or care about where he is most of the time except for that one time he secretly threw a party in the house, and life would just generally be more fun and jokes and puns than problems. Great life.

Oh, and he might just randomly get the latest phone someday, and it doesn’t matter whichever sky it fell out of, it’s freely given by the movie.

“Yo dude, seatwork – are you drawing hearts?” Oh, curse these people. Why do they think it’s their business to look at whatever he’s drawing? (To be fair, it’s Jihoon’s fault for spacing out in the first place... why does this guy sound like Samuel? Seriously? “Dude”?)

Jihoon quickly shuts his notebook close and takes the sheets of paper. “I wasn’t.”

“Whatever you say.” Jihoon glares a little before taking a sheet of paper and passing the rest. Well, at least he didn’t pry.

 _I’m really bad at English_ , he thinks as he stares down at the paper.

 

The next few days are odd. Weird. Unusual. Unsettling. Freaky. Jihoon’s about to use every other adjective applicable to their situation. Now, it’s confusing just to describe it like that. He’ll explain it.

First day, when he goes to Jinyoung’s classroom to wake the male up from his usual morning nap, girls huddle at the room’s doors. They stare at him as he goes to Jinyoung’s seat to wake the younger up. And then they squeal when Jihoon’s fingers touch Jinyoung’s arm.

He turns his head to stare at them suspiciously for quite a few seconds, then decides they’re not worth his time. For goodness’ sake, they only have, what, twenty minutes in every break? He can spend that time doing better things.

“Hey, wake up,” Jihoon whispers to Jinyoung, nudging the latter’s arm. Jinyoung opens his eyes slowly and shoos away his hand. Jihoon can’t help thinking how adorable Jinyoung looks like then, like a lazy cat being woken up from its nap. Heterosexual thoughts.

“What do you need?” Oh, rude. Jihoon is not surprised.

Jinyoung usually turns to a bitchy version of himself when he’s woken up from _anything_. Still like an angel, though.

“Girls are crowding around the room,” he whispers again and looks around. They’re still there, what the actual fuck.

That makes Jinyoung wake up fully. Sighing, he says, “I thought they don’t follow you up to here.”

“That’s what I thought, but now they’re also _here_ ,” Jihoon hisses out. Is that a camera flash he just felt? What the actual hell?

Jihoon’s facial expression changes when he hears the girls squeal and giggle and _gah_. “And you hear that? They’re _squealing_. Just outside your classroom.”

Jinyoung places a hand over his. Jihoon doesn’t flinch. “You want to go somewhere else, _hyung_?”

Jihoon finds himself snorting, because where else in the school can they actually hang out except for both their classrooms? They don’t have any keys for any of the rooms – oh wait, they have the dance studio’s. But that’s on the other building and now, they only have ten minutes.

“No. Where can we actually go?”

“Right. Well, do you want to go back to your classroom now?”

Jihoon looks to the doors warily. “And go through those crowds? No.”

Jinyoung scoots to his right and pats the seat beside him. “Come on, sit. My seatmate’s with his friends.”

He smiles, then takes a seat. The girls squeal. Again. “What are you doing?”

On the second day, Jihoon feels less cameras on him when he’s alone than when he’s with Jinyoung. Even in lunch, he spots some camera flashes every now and then. It makes him uncomfortable.

“Hey Jinyoung, do you know what’s up with these girls?”

Jinyoung blinks at him for a few seconds before going back to his lunch. “I don’t know. Maybe they want more pictures of you so they’re now taking pictures even when you’re with your friends.”

“What?”

And there goes Samuel’s cackles. Jihoon turns his head to glare at the male in front of him. That just makes the cackles go louder.

“Disrespectful _dongsaeng_ ,” he mutters under his breath.

“We’re being subjected to torture, you know, _hyung_. Now they probably also have pictures of us,” Samuel tells him. Jihoon rolls his eyes.

“Oh please, don’t pretend like you’re not enjoying the attention. You want these girls to have pictures of you, too.”

Samuel pouts but replies. “Yeah, fine. But I don’t think they – “ He motions to their other friends. “ – like to be pictured like this.”

“I’m fine!” Seonho raises a hand up. “They’re probably just getting my back or my hair.”

“It’s only you guys in front of us that are getting captured anyway,” Woojin adds. That doesn’t make Jihoon feel better. These girls just breached through some invisible line, Jihoon almost wants to throw some sort of tantrum from how angry he is.

“I want to kill them.”

Jinyoung frowns. “I don’t think you’d want to go to jail just because of this.”

“I’m joking.” Halfway joking. Part of him wants to incinerate their bodies and forever make them get out of his hair.

The third day is what ticks him off the most. While on dance practice, Woojin suddenly barges in, late and a little panicked. Jihoon raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Your fangirls just jumped me on the hallway.”

Oh, Jihoon just got triggered. What the fuck are those girls doing? He hisses, “What?”

“Yeah. I didn’t hear much of what they’re trying to ask me because I was rushing to get here, but most of the time I heard your name and Jinyoung’s.” Woojin tells him as he dumps his bag on a table. Jihoon looks around to make eye contact with Jinyoung and give him a look. The younger knows immediately what Woojin just told him.

“Ugh. How can I get them out of my life? This is too much.”

Woojin moves to join the group in their dance practice. He looks completely serious as he says, “Fake your death?”

Jihoon stares at him as if he’s crazy. “Are you serious?”

“It might work. Fake your death, move to China or something, start a new life.”

Jihoon can’t help but consider it. It’s not his fault.

 

“ _Hyung_ , are you okay?”

Jinyoung waves his hand in front of Jihoon’s face. The latter blinks at it. Oh. Right. Usual walk to the café. And he’s spacing out. Weird. Usually, Jinyoung’s the one doing that (when he does, he looks like he’s brooding).

“I’m fine. I was just thinking about things.” He spots a tell-tale flash from the corner of his eye. Gah.

“School?”

“School.”

Here’s the thing that’s really great about Jinyoung. He doesn’t pry unless he needs to. Which isn’t really a lot of situations, as far as Jihoon can remember.

And even though he doesn’t pry, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Jinyoung cares a lot but it’s not the kind of care that’s suffocating (like Samuel’s or most of his friends’). He’s there when you need him, listens, but doesn’t try to squeeze information from you (again, Samuel).

“Why does Woojin _hyung_ keep lifting his shirt?” Jinyoung asks.

Oh, and his spontaneity is _really_ , _really_ great. Imagine random conversations for _days_.

“When _does_ he lift his shirt?”

To be honest, Jihoon has _never_ seen Woojin lift his shirt. Or maybe he has but he chose to erase those images from his brain. Probably the reason why some girls who watch Jihoon’s dance team’s practices (who aren’t there for him) squeal a lot when Woojin dances.

“Most times when we practice. I get deaf every time he does that, you know.”

So now Jihoon vaguely remembers those times.

“Probably embracing Sungwoon _hyung_ ’s ‘let’s be sexy’ motto,” Jihoon replies, stretching his arms above his head.

“But he’s underage.”

Jihoon chuckles a little. Why is Jinyoung unbelievably cute? And why does his mouth keep letting out words that are not supposed to be let out?

Unsurprisingly, Jinyoung brushes off his statement. Of course, he does. Jihoon awkwardly clears his throat.

“We’re all underage, Jinyoung.”

Great. There’s that annoying camera flash again. Why do they even have the flash on? Seriously, it’s broad daylight. If they’re taking pictures, it should at least be in a way that doesn’t make Jihoon even more uncomfortable.

“This is so creepy,” Jinyoung states, looking around him. Even though his stalkers are creepy, Jihoon is still a little amazed by how they conceal themselves. You won’t even suspect anything if you aren’t aware they’re there.

“No shit. I could see the flash.”

“It’s still creepy.”

 _Now you know how I feel_ , Jihoon thinks to himself. Though he really can’t blame Jinyoung. Admittedly, Jihoon finds Jinyoung more handsome than himself, he wonders why the girls aren’t obsessing over the guy. “I swear, if you abandon me and quit your job – “

“I won’t. It’s just creepier.”

Thank the heavens for Jinyoung. This kid won’t abandon him in the horrifying sea of stalkers. Though, partially threatening the guy didn’t really play a part in that. None of his threats work on Jinyoung. His cute gestures, however, work like magic. Which is strange, because they don’t work on anyone else (they all say they’re cringey). Now he wonders if he should have done that instead.

“I’m hungry,” Jinyoung tells him, rubbing his stomach as he looks at Jihoon expectantly.

“Don’t you have snacks with you?”

“I didn’t bring any today.”

“There’s a convenience store east from here. Let’s quickly buy some snacks and then go to work.”

“But we might get late – “

“They have classes at _six_. They literally have an hour and a half if we go to that store. It’s fine, we can just extend our own shifts or something.”

Jinyoung hesitantly looks from him to the road to their right. “Well, okay.”

 

They end up looking through snacks for an entire forty-five minutes. Jihoon isn’t entirely sure how they did that but he suspects it’s the excessive talking (talking = flirting). They get to the café at exactly 16:50.

“You guys are aware that you’re shift was supposed to start – “ Seongwoo glances down at his watch, “twenty minutes ago, right?”

“We were hungry.”

Daniel shrugs as he picks up his bag. “Well, we’ve got to get going, guys.”

Seongwoo’s face brightens up with a look that can only be described as realization. Except that there’s really nothing to realize. “You guys were on a date.”

“We were _not_ on a date, _Gong_ - _ssi_!” That doesn’t seem to make Seongwoo stop like he usually would. In fact, the guy just comes closer and looks at his left ear slowly. “Your ears are _sooo_ red.”

Jihoon skips away from the older male and glares. He can’t say anything, though, because it’s true, his ears are burning and so are basically every single other piece of his skin. Whatever, what Seongwoo is saying is just scandalous. Scandalous.

“Oh, and look at Jinyoung blush! You guys were _so_ on a date.”

Now that’s a surprise. Jihoon dares to glance in Jinyoung’s direction. It’s true. Jinyoung’s cheeks are a very, very bright shade of red (Jihoon secretly finds it hot). The youngest of them looks down to the floor and bites his lip.

“We just went to a convenience store and bought some things. See?” Despite being flustered, Jinyoung successfully says the whole sentence and holds up the plastic bag he was carrying.

Seongwoo has never looked so disappointed in his whole life. “Oh, come on, guys, you have to stop dancing around each other at some point, you know?”

“There’s no ‘dancing around each other’, okay? People are crazy.”

“Seongwoo…” Daniel calls out a few feet from the door. His boyfriend sighs before picking up his own bag and walking to where Daniel is.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go. Let’s not help our _dongsaeng_ s with their problems.”

Jihoon shakes his head. “It’s not a problem if it’s not considered a problem.”

“Whatever you say, Jihoon-ah.”

It takes a few seconds for Jihoon to look around for _anyone_ who might have seen that little real-life skit. Luckily, no one’s around, not even the fangirls. It’s only him and Jinyoung inside the café.

Jihoon considers himself a good actor. So no, he is so not going to act awkward about the whole ordeal (even though he has acted like it before).

“Maybe we should eat those snacks now, Jinyoung.”

The younger looks down at his own bag before hesitantly opening his bag and taking out the snacks to put them on the counter. Jihoon takes one.

“Seongwoo _hyung_ must be seeing things. Or he’s delusional,” he tells Jinyoung as he joins the latter behind the counter. There’s something in Jinyoung’s eyes that he can’t explain when he looks at Jihoon after that statement. Jinyoung gulps nervously.

“Probably.”

After their little snack, people from the university near the café start piling in, leaving them both busy. Their work isn’t really for two people, Jihoon thinks, but their boss isn’t really around much to see that (their boss is a bit of the kind of guy who you would think of as a hobo but in reality, he’s really rich and is probably in Cairo or Marrakesh or some exotic place right now).

The steady flow of tired, cranky students stop around ten and then the last person leaves fifteen minutes into ten. Pretty strange, if you ask Jihoon, since exams are this week and so are the due dates for projects. Eh. At most, Jihoon and Jinyoung will probably have a few minutes before someone comes in again.

Most of the mess from earlier is almost forgotten when Jihoon goes back to the counter from cleaning the tables. Most of it. Jihoon still remembers exactly how Jinyoung blushed so cutely.

He wipes his hands with a towel as he approaches Jinyoung. The younger is staring outside, looking for something, probably customers. Or he’s trying to find something that will keep them busy again so Jinyoung won’t have to talk to Jihoon (it’s all Jihoon’s paranoia).

He’s a little nervous as he takes a step after another. But maybe if there’s “nothing to actually talk about”, then Jihoon won’t have to be nervous. Yep.

Jihoon only realizes he’s gotten way too close to Jinyoung when he’s staring right at the other’s face and appreciating Jinyoung. Jinyoung blinks at him but doesn’t pull away like Jihoon expected him to. Huh.

The talk doesn’t happen. Instead, what happens is Jinyoung leaning in just a little closer and staring right into Jihoon’s eyes. The intensity of the former’s gaze makes Jihoon feel way too warm. It’s tense, he can’t breathe, he’s way too confused.

He likes how Jinyoung’s breath feels against his lips. He likes how Jinyoung’s warmth seems to wrap around his body in the cold air of the café. He likes how Jinyoung is looking at him right now. Maybe he likes girls _and_ Jinyoung.

Jihoon glances at the door just to check if anyone is going to come in. Truthfully, he doesn’t really care. Anyone can go and catch them in that exact moment and Jihoon’s sure he won’t pull away.

“Can I...?” Jinyoung asks when Jihoon’s attention goes back to him. Jihoon doesn’t answer.

He tilts his head just a little, enough to make his lips touch Jinyoung’s. There’s no movement or anything, it was simply just lips against each other and yet Jihoon has never felt so electrified or blown away in his entire life.

Jinyoung makes the first move. He moves his lips slowly, almost as if he’s afraid something will shatter if he moves too fast. It’s Jinyoung who is holding on to Jihoon’s apron as the kiss deepens, like Jihoon is going to disappear anytime soon. Jihoon can feel how the younger clutches at the fabric. The grip is strong and Jihoon feels overwhelmed.

It ends. Jihoon doesn’t feel like he just lost something, no. When they pull away, the view of Jinyoung’s flaming cheeks makes Jihoon smile. It also makes his face go even redder.

“I thought you only liked girls,” Jinyoung tells him with a dopey smile on his face. It’s the kind of sappy smile that would make Jihoon gag in any other situation. In that moment, though, it looked like the smile that any teeth care brand would kill to have on their billboards. Jihoon would later gag but smile at remembering such thoughts.

“Maybe I like girls _and_ you.” Jihoon’s face hurts from smiling. He doesn’t mind it.

“Maybe?” Jinyoung teases. Jihoon laughs.

“Fine. I like you.” The words don’t come easy, just like how Jihoon thought it would be. Maybe soon it will start to flow easily out of his mouth. And then maybe he’ll also start to smile as sappily as Jinyoung. He’ll probably gag every time, but it would be nice.

They probably need to pull away from this very, very close position before someone walks in. Jihoon takes a step away and turns to the counter.

Sure enough, people start pouring in again five minutes before their shift ends. Jihoon doesn’t sneak glances at Jinyoung for most of the time but when he does, he catches Jinyoung looking at him.

When their shift ends, they go out for dinner. Jihoon says it’s their first date. Jinyoung says it’s their nth date. Midnight meals are fun.

 

The next morning, Samuel physically assaults Jihoon as he jumps on the other’s back and waves around a picture. Jihoon can’t see it properly, so he stops the younger from breaking his back.

“Did you get into a scandal again or something?” Jihoon asks Samuel.

“Probably,” Jinyoung answers. Samuel shakes his head and laughs maniacally.

“It’s not me this time. Oh, you guys are _so_ in for a surprise.” Wait, so is it Jihoon? He’s in some sort of scandal now? In the many years he’s had stalkers, he’s never had a scandal. Ever.

“Just tell us,” Jinyoung demands. Samuel nods before opening his mouth only to laugh out loud again.

“Samuel...” Jihoon warns.

“Okay, okay. But to be honest, I think it’s better if you just look at the picture, it explains – “

Jihoon snatches the picture quickly from Samuel’s fingers. His jaw drops. What is in the picture was last night. Last night’s kiss with Jinyoung. Those fangirls.

“So – what – you’re still not a couple? Ha.”

Jihoon glares at Samuel. But he’s still confused. “Okay, we’re a couple, blah blah blah,” he automatically gulps, “But why the hell did they even snap a picture like that?”

“Probably because almost all of the people in both your fanclubs have converted from the ‘just for Jihoon’ club to the ‘winkdeep club.” That doesn’t help, Samuel.

“What the fuck is winkdeep?”

Samuel coos. “Oh, look, you’re copying me now. Anyway, winkdeep is basically your couple name now. You wink a lot, Jinyoung is called deepdark by his fanclub. Cute, right?”

Jinyoung grins as he locks eyes with Jihoon. Jihoon raises an eyebrow. Jinyoung speaks. “Cute.”

Jihoon isn’t finished. “Okay, but how did you get that picture?”

Samuel cackles. “I joined the winkdeep club. It’s great.”

“Samuel!”

**Author's Note:**

> Idk what I wrote? I tried to motivate myself to write more than 3k words but I went beyond that and wrote 6k and yeah I think I pushed it a little too much idk dude. Also my English teacher leaves a lot of remarks about my grammar every time I pass a paper, I'm sorry T-T I write the way I talk I'm sorry


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